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Try these ideas to help your kids regulate their habits and increase the chances that their experience will be positive. Also, read our detailed review of YouTube.

The Basics

Watch with your kid. Simply ask your kids what they're watching and join them. In general, kids are tuning into certain channels or following specific YouTube personalities because they're entertained by them (not because they are actively searching for "bad" stuff). Many kids naturally want to share the videos they like. But be prepared to watch some weird stuff such as unboxing videos.

Watch by yourself. If kids don't want to share, get the name of the channel they're watching and watch it later. Watch a few videos by the same creator to get a feel for the content.

Be sleuthy. If you're concerned about the content your kid is watching on YouTube -- and you've tried talking to her -- there are ways of tracking her viewing habits. If she has a YouTube account (which only requires a Gmail address), her YouTube page will display her recently watched videos, recommended videos based on her watch history, and suggestions for channels similar to the ones she's watched. Even if your kid deletes her "watch history," the recommendations all will be related to stuff she's watched.

Subscribe. Encourage your kids to subscribe to their favorite channels rather than hunting around on YouTube for the latest ones from a specific creator. Subscribers are notified when a new video is uploaded, plus all their channels are displayed in the Subscriptions section, making it easier, and faster, to go directly to the stuff they like. Consider choosing subscriptions together, and make an event out of watching the newest uploads with your kids.

The Nitty-Gritty

Investigate the creator. The name of each video's creator appears beneath the video window and usually has a bit of information about the person behind the video and/or the channel itself. Google the creator's name to find out whether he or she has a Wikipedia page or another Web presence (most YouTubers use other social media including Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram to promote their brand). You might find out that your kid's favorite YouTube personality has an impressive reach. Check out our recommendations of positive role models on YouTube.

Look at the suggestions. The suggested videos listed on the right-hand side of the page are related in some way to the main video. Evaluate them to see if they seem age-appropriate, and that will provide an indication of the appropriateness of the main video. Learn how to make these suggested videos a little safer.

Read the comments. YouTube comments are notorious for being negative, but it's worth reading them to get a sense of the channels' demographic and the tone of the discussion. Channel creators can moderate their comments to reduce the amount of negativity. Well-groomed comments are a good sign.

Watch the trailer. Many creators make highlight reels and trailers -- basically video ads for the channels themselves (which usually appear first on the channel page). Definitely watch them if they're available to get an overview of the host and the content.

Finding Good Stuff

Turn on Restricted Mode. Be aware that YouTube is technically only for teens 13 and up, and what the site considers age-appropriate may not match your values. But YouTube offers a filter called Restricted Mode that limits the iffy stuff. Go to your account settings page and toggle on Restricted Mode at the bottom of the page. (It will remain on for logged-in users on the same browser.)

Dig a little. Most kids find out about new videos either from their friends or by clicking on the related videos (which may or may not be appropriate). But YouTube itself offers several ways to home in on quality content. Go to YouTube Spotlight for curated content in a variety of categories. Read about YouTube news on the company blog, and find out what's trending all over the country. Also, read our reviews.

Watch later. YouTube gives you the ability to save videos to watch at a later time, which improves the odds that your kids will be exposed to stuff you've preapproved. You can create playlists, too, virtually designing a customized programming schedule of content for each of your kids or for different subjects they're interested in.

As Common Sense Media's parenting editor, Caroline helps parents make sense of what’s going on in their kids' media lives. From games to cell phones to movies and more, if you're wondering "what’s the right age for…?"...
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Comments (58)

Kid, 10 years oldJanuary 2, 2018

I would recommend YouTube for kids ages 10 and up, But Kids ages 10-12 should have safety mode and and should be supervised. I would recommend that kids under ages 10 should Have YouTube Kids and be supervised constantly. Also make sure your kids subscribe and turn on notifications for their favorite channels, then they will get notified when a new video comes out and will hopefully stay on that channel, and make sure your kids ask and have you review new channels they want to watch. Make sure you kids know not to share private information in the comments and to only post nice comments.

Youtube Kids is also dangerous. I heard that there is inappropriate stuff on there. The channels disguise inappropriate content as characters that young children know from their favorite TV shows and movies. PBS has more quality content that is educational.

PewDiePie is a neo-Nxzi. Completely inappropriate that he would even be mentioned on this great website.
Please do not recommend him to anyone.
I recommend you remove references to him from this page, except to warn parents that PewDiePie is a neo-Nxzi.
August 7, 2016: PewDiePie, wearing a Make America Great Again hat, begins his video with a swastika and other Nazi imagery, and uses a photo of Hitler as a segue between clips
September 24, 2016: In a video criticising YouTube policy, he shows a clip of Hitler giving a speech
October 15, 2016: PewDiePie posts swastikas drawn by his fans December 8, 2016: PewDiePie wears a brown military uniform while watching a Hitler clip at the end of his video
January 11, 2017: He hires two Sri Lankan actors on Fiverr to do a dance and hold up a sign that says ‘Death to all Jxws’
January 14, 2017: PewDiePie plays the Nazi Party anthem before bowing to a swastika in a mock resurrection ritual
January 17, 2017: He posts a video saying ‘there’s a difference between a joke and actual, like, death to all Jxws. If I made a video saying…’ at which point the camera cuts to a close-up of his face illuminated brightly – ‘Hey guys, PewDiePie here. Death to all Jxws, I want you to say after me: Death to all Jxws. And, you know, Hitler was right. I really opened my eyes to white power. And I think it is time we did something about this.’
January 22, 2017: PewDiePie hires a Jesus Christ impersonator over Fiverr to say: ‘Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong.’
February 5, 2016: At the start of the video he includes a brief Nxzi salute, with a Hitler voice-over saying ‘Sieg Heil’ and text saying ‘Nxzi Confirmed’.

YouTube is 90% safe! People do hate on your videos and dislike bots do exist, but if your kid blocks them from commenting they will be more safe. Haters do exist and if your kid wants to become famous they will have to learn that they will experience hate at some point.

There is A LOT of dangerous and influential youtube content being produced by personalities who negatively impact kids and young teens. I wish there was a more critical look at this aspect on Common Sense Media ~ more warnings about those channels that should be blocked or avoided by young eyes. Personally, I can't stand how youtube is allowed to freely operate sharing content inappropriate for children while the celebrities monetize and take advantage of children by getting cliicks for funny videos that are actually veiled agendas. We finally had to block Youtube entirely because our child was becomming so negatively impacted, addicted to watching the videos and becoming so influenced that she was becomming a depressed and anxious person. It took us a while to figure out, but she was watching inappropriate videos curated by Miles McKenna (the miles chronicles) as well as other teen transgender content. Some of these people are so narcissistic and share mis-information. Maybe its just me, but I don't feel that children should be able to freely watch sex transitions on youtube. It's more than a developing child can process - especially those on the austic spectrum or with ADHD. It can be very damaging and you can't undo the influence. I know a lot of parents don't have time to monitor their kids online consumption - and youtube is so hard to monitor, block or control. But it really is a dangerous, wide open platform. We learned the hard way that there are predators lingering in the comments section of youtube videos and very easy for kids to interract with strangers. You will see a lot of positive reviews for youtube - but they are mostly written by children. Any responsible adult will agree that youtube is a dangerous platform for kids, with zero security.

Comon lets all stop pretending lets wake up shall we , lets all have a little common sense not so common anymore . It should be your duty to keep your child away from YouTube . YouTube has affected and will continue affecting how others interact and view one another in the world i believe in a negative way and i believe youTube cannot be properly monitored and regulated. In the real world computer devices are easily accessible and used as a digital baby sitter whilst the mother is busy with whatever she is doing. People also talk about monitoring and supervised watching yes great in the ideal world but this is only promoting them sitting in front of a screen until they want more and more but what age do you start letting them watch it on there own?. You cant monitor it it's impossible try to prove me wrong?. My advice would be to take your family to a place where there is no internet where there is no media influences there you would be doing a great job as a parent ..... Is your child affected take my test its FREE and Easy to use turn the wifi off for a week And god blesses you all

So, a mother (woman) is the neglecting 'babysitter'?
Tired of women being advertently or inadvertently being labeled as the only ones responsible for a child's welfare. It takes a village to raise a child and support families as they navigate this challenging new world of the internet. Please choose your words carefully and don't assume 'the mother' is the person who neglects.

I like many YouTube channels. I really enjoy Game Theory, the host Matthew Patrick (MatPat), never swears in his theory videos unless is the occasionally h-word (which I really don't see as a swear word). The channel is not specifically targeted towards children, but it is quite kid friendly. On his live channel, GTLive, (which he hosts with his fabulous wife), he puts warnings for any games that include content that's not suitable for everyone. DanTDM is a YouTuber that used to swear occasionally, but never does in his videos anymore. I wouldn't prefer your kids to watch his older videos, where he swears a little bit, but his newer videos (mostly Roblox) are kid friendly. He plays some horror games like Five Nights At Freddy's and Hello, Neighbor but there is no blood or anything graphic. He puts a warning up for jump scares. The horror games are more for older children. He plays some funny games too but there might be some toilet humor. He has also played GTA V (he made the video super kid friendly!). He was just showcasing a funny mod. He plays teen games like The Sims sometimes. ThinkNoodles is another great channel, with a variety of different videos. He plays Roblox to Minecraft to Who's Your Daddy?. Madeyewlook (I'm pretty sure that's how it's spelled), does costume makeup tutorials. Alexys (the host) doesn't swear. She's really helpful for Halloween makeup. She makes the funniest sarcastic jokes. There are many more that I can't name at the moment. Hope this helped!

I understand why parents might be thinking this way but really, most videos with swearing and mild references aren't that bad for your child. Actually it'll more-so be a thing that children are afraid of their parents reaching because they know they aren't supposed to watch stuff even though the terms are used very vaguely. Children actually know a lot more than you think, and what is going on in their heads is more important than what they are watching.
Also what would be better is that instead of worrying about the amount of cursewords there are in the video (unless there are too many not-so-mild references in all of this youtubers videos) parents should focus more on how long they're watching the videos and when they're watching the videos and what type of videos they are (and when I say this, I mean like how educational it is, how is it improving them, how it changes they're behavior) because that can show how its affecting the child's thought process and actions. If the child is watching a video while they are supposed to be working, and they've been watching it for about 4 hours then you need to have a talk.

I understand why parents might be thinking this way but really, most videos with swearing and mild references aren't that bad for your child. Actually it'll more-so be a thing that children are afraid of their parents reaching because they know they aren't supposed to watch stuff even though the terms are used very vaguely. Children actually know a lot more than you think, and what is going on in their heads is more important than what they are watching.
Also what would be better is that instead of worrying about the amount of cursewords there are in the video (unless there are too many not-so-mild references in all of this youtubers videos) parents should focus more on how long they're watching the videos and when they're watching the videos and what type of videos they are (and when I say this, I mean like how educational it is, how is it improving them, how it changes they're behavior) because that can show how its affecting the child's thought process and actions. If the child is watching a video while they are supposed to be working, and they've been watching it for about 4 hours then you need to have a talk.

These are some very good tips on how to keep your child in a kid-friendly zone and see what they're doing. I can list a few kid-friendly YouTubers that every child can watch without a parent being worried for the safety of their mind.
1: TheDiamondMinecart/DanTDM
2: StampyLongNose/StampyLongHead
3: Aphmau (This may not be good for an 8-year-old, but 10-year-olds to 11-year-olds, sure!)
4: Grian
These are all kind of YouTuber gamers, but they are all aware of the younger faces on YouTube, and so they never cuss, never do anything inappropriate, and always make their side of YouTube a kid-friendly environment. This is just a comment from an 11-year-old, but hopefully that gave you some options for your son/daughter. I hope you enjoyed. Bye!

I watch youtube all the time and don't understand the hate. Youtubers are so diverse that it actually makes kids more aware of the world's issues and peoples differences. For example, LGBT+ YouTubers such as Troye Sivan, Connor Franta and Tyler Oakley have taught me to respect people for who they are.
Seeing as youtube is so diverse I thought I should give a description of different youtube channels.
Danisnotonfire- He does swear a few times in each video however he is hilarious and very relatable. His videos can be quite educational as well as funny such as his ones about exams or how stupid smoking and nudes are.
AmazingPhil- Phil doesn't swear on camera which is good. He is really happy and quirky and makes entertaining videos
||Superwoman||- Her videos can be about mildly mature topics however they are really enjoyable.
Jacksepticeye- He swears and is loud (but that's what I love about him) but his gaming videos are quality you can really tell how much he cares about his fans
Colliscool- Her channel is very relatable and funny but she does swear (but srsly she's great)
Troye Sivan- Swears every now and then but is really friendly and inspirational.
REACT/FineBrothersEntertainment- Videos are aimed at different age groups which are ideal for viewers.
Onision- Not for young kids as he swears and talks about mature subjects, he is hilarious though.
KickThePj- PJ is very creative and I really recommend his videos. I don't think he swears but there probably is the odd swear here and there (I tend to not notice)
One YouTuber I want to warn parents about is Sam Pepper as he is a rapist and I really don't want your kids to have to find out about what he's done to fans.
There are other YouTubers so feel free to ask about my view on them

My 8-year old and I have been working on a Minecraft gaming channel more geared toward children. The videos are almost all based on time-travel - going to different points in history to relive, or re-create certain events. Our biggest challenge is finding ways to inform parents that our channel actually exists. We've put hours into each ~8 minute video only to have them trumped by junk videos (YouTube will always favour a 30 second video of a guy getting hit by ball).
If anyone is interested in sampling one of our videos, here is the URL to our latest entitled "The End of an Era" (dinosaur extinction):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3VSAw8YCF8 .
If you have children who enjoy Minecraft, I promise they won't be disappointed.
Thanks.

U-tube needs to do a lot more to control what is on there! Parents should have to ok everything a minor puts on it! It's sickens me to watch some of the videos &amp; if you flag them nothing happens. Parents should have to read comments! Lot of sickos out there

Honestly, issues like these cannot really be given general advice. You know your kids the best and what they can and cannot handle. Anyways, most kids can handle much more than we give them credit. I watched YouTube since 3rd grade and turned out a decent human being. so what if they "know" a little more than you wanted. It's more concerning if they try to emulate certain things or catch some bad attitude, but more likely, they just move on to the next video. This whole "age appropriate" buzzword is complete nonsense because everyone is ready for different things at a different age in their life. An impressionable 16 year old may not be mature enough to watch the videos a more mature 14 year old could. There is no magic age that someone can be exposed to something. Besides, who says we need to keep our kids in some hermetically sealed bubble where the only perspective they gain is from us? What happens when they are no longer in our jurisdiction, so to speak? If you make certain topics and ideas the forbidden fruit, they'll gravitate to it when they can and behind your back. It's a much more valuable skill to discern what messages are good, bad and ludicrous on your own when your parents are no longer there to micromanage your thoughts. It's much better to let them explore some ideas you may not be so comfortable with, and have an open talk about them. You may be surprised they too don't take it seriously! Now that is "age appropriate" for everyone 0-100!

Inappropriate language and content are not the worst things on YouTube that can harm our kids. It's the complete stupidity of many of the videos. To kids, the dumbest video is the most entertaining. Watch some other kid play Minecraft? All day? YouTube allows no option to filter or block these dumb videos from showing up on PS4. So our decision is to completely ban YouTube.

People struggle to understand why we would want to watch someone play a video game, but it's very similar to wanting to watch sports games. They enjoy playing the game themselves, (or not in some cases) but still would rather watch someone with more experience play the game better. Also, video games have so much variety that I personally find it much more engaging than sports- Who wants to watch the same game played over and over and over again? Youtube gamers play a different game or a different part of a game every video, or at least the good ones do. Minecraft is a little different because it is so diverse and there are endless different things to do in it, and so even though Minecraft gamers technically play the same games every time it's a completely different process.
Obviously your kid shouldn't watch YouTube all day, but banning it all-together seems a little extreme. It's your kid though and I don't know the full extent of the situation, so it's your decision in the end, but maybe think about it a bit more before proclaiming that something is dumb.

I didn't realise that people could be so stupid! So what if your kid likes Minecraft videos? I used to. It's not dumb, its just a video of someone playing a REALLY popular game. I understand if the player is stupid but that doesn't the video needs to be banned, I really don't think you're mature enought for Youtube.

I'm a 13 year old youtuber that makes gaming videos, I never curse in my videos, and I mostly play video games. I also watch videos by Jacksepticeye, markiplier and pewdiepie and I have no problems with them.

Good Lord this article is ridiculous. "Being sleuthy" may tell you what your child is watching, but that's about it. It won't tell you what your child is thinking, or why they like a certain channel. Only open, non judgemental conversation can accomplish that. Also, let's not forget that the resulting trust issues if you're ever found out will definitely be worse than your kid mooning over a cute British boy in secret for a few years.

I for one am a big mlp fan. I mostly watch Yum soda,bins toy bin and mlpstopmotion I also watch some animal jam videos. The great thing is that for any scary/inaproprite videos (most) people put a warning. And if you only watch things on a few select channels is that in the home screen it will mostly be things from that channel ! Youtube is a amazing place for people to do what they love to do!!!!

I for one am a big mlp fan. I mostly watch Yum soda,bins toy bin and mlpstopmotion I also watch some animal jam videos. The great thing is that for any scary/inaproprite videos (most) people put a warning. And if you only watch things on a few select channels is that in the home screen it will mostly be things from that channel ! Youtube is a amazing place for people to do what they love to do!!!!

I for one am a big mlp fan. I mostly watch Yum soda,bins toy bin and mlpstopmotion I also watch some animal jam videos. The great thing is that for any scary/inaproprite videos (most) people put a warning. And if you only watch things on a few select channels is that in the home screen it will mostly be things from that channel ! Youtube is a amazing place for people to do what they love to do!!!!

Hi! I'm a teen and I LOVE Youtubers like PewDiePie, Connor Franta, iiSuperwomanii, Danisnotonfire, AmazingPhil, and Tyler Oakley. My mom watches their videos with me all the time. (whenever dan and phil release a new video, I rush to sit next to her and we watch it together). My mom doesn't seem to have any problem with them. She doesn't mind the swearing and some mild inappropriate references. Granted, Tyler Oakley makes more than mild references, and quite frequently. (My mom doesn't really watch Tyler Oakley, she finds his videos on the boring side). If you are against swearing or if you have a young child, I would suggest AmazingPhil and iiSuperwomanii. Phil doesn't swear in his videos and if someone else does he bleeps it (except for the occasional h word, which isn't often, unless Dan is with him). Superwoman does say mild curse words such as the d word and h word. She also sometimes makes mild inappropriate references, but it's mostly funny. PewDiePie, Danisnotonfire, and Tyler Oakley swear frequently and strongly (f words) though, although Dan doesn't swear as much as he did before. Also, just a tip to parents, from a teen: If you see one video from a youtuber that you don't like, please don't ban your child from watching that youtuber at all! Watch their other videos, all of them won't be like the one you disliked.

Wow, i'm glad my parents trust me and don't feel the need to do this stuff,
it's not that i'm doing anything wrong or would mind if they did, i just prefer personal space and am happy with the fact that my parents trust me to do the right things and make the right decisions online, i'd rather not have my parents hovering over my shoulder 24/7.

There is a problem that I'm always facing when I want to watch or share a YouTube video with my kids, sometimes there are improper ads, irrelevant videos around my video and sometimes offensive comments, there is website that solved this issue: http://safeyoutube.net, it enables you to remove all ads, comments and other videos, you will just need to paste the YouTube video URL and click the "Generate Link" button, here is an example of a generated safe YouTube link: http://safeYouTube.net/w/b1k

There is a lot of good channels on youtube but some of the channels you have to be a little careful. Thinknoodles is a good choice because he has family friendly videos. The safety option on youtube doesn't work that good. It only blocks out videos that too many people flag. A lot of good channels get blocked out with the safety option enabled.

Hey! I actually have a YouTube Channel that is geared towards children and young-teens! Maybe you guys and your children would like it?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClxMDq6zRlQWJZWz_RrQNPg
Let me know what you think!

There are definitely lots of places where you can find child friendly video game content, one site I would definitely suggest checking out is www.gameru.com. They provide video tutorials for console and mobile games — a little something for everyone. But quality control &amp; no vulgar/abusive language from their game experts sets them apart from all the others.

Youtube is something you should allow a boundary push on. The main thing about it that you will find is the cursing. I believe if you find about 50 fun channels that are mainly appropriate, then you can have fun with youtube without danger.

We have been using the app Video Monster and iTubeList. They are apps for the iPad and allow you to control what your children see from Youtube. Recently there have been some issues with Video Monster, it is free but not uploading Youtube videos well. The iTubelist app is working well. It just takes time to set up.

I would like to remind parents to check the comments that their children leave on videos. There's a video on how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twcmbB00NJM. We run a children's channel and we have gotten very inappropriate comments from children using their parent's log in. We had a little girl who was leavy very hateful comments form her family's business accout. I Googled the business and called the family and notified them because I was concerned for their livelihood. Kids also have posted their phone numbers and addresses. I have a comment filter which catches most of them. I always delete them, but I try to reach out to mom and dad if the information went public and did not get caught by the filter because I believe they really need to know about this.

May i ask how do you know children are using their parent's log in you must be made of magic or you think i'm stupid. I think you are trying to gain trust whilst marketing your channel great job did this gain a little more traffic on your channel . Trolls are everywhere and they come in all ages just another reason not to let your child use YouTube. . I will be also flagging this comment also

That is an excellent suggestion. Sounds like you're doing your part to keep parents informed of what their kids are writing. It would be ideal if parents watched with their kids and posted constructive feedback together -- parents can really model good digital citizenship that way.

Thank you! We are going to be doing a round-up of streaming video services just for kids. I think they are great and I advise parents to use them. Kids gravitate toward YouTube, but there are good, age-appropriate alternatives.

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